this morning on "early today," moving forward. president obama presents his vision to the country as he accepts the democratic nomination. murder verdict. ex-cop drew peterson is convicted of the 2004 murder of his wife kathleen savio. and a rare display. harry is an apache helicopter and a rare display. harry is an apache helicopter pilot. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. welcome to our viewers across the nation including the pacific time zone. and today we begin with the final countdown. with election day just two months away, the end of the democrats' convention last night

marks a fresh starting point in the race for the white house, nbc's tracie pots joins us from charlotte with more on this. they're breaking down now. it was a packed house. it was at capacity early in the evening, hours before president obama spoke. ♪ make it easy on me now >> reporter: after a final night of music, jokes. >> i know it's an empty chair. it makes you nervous, doesn't it? >> reporter: and speeches including the vice president's. >> this man has courage in his soul, compassion in his heart, and a spine of steel. >> reporter: president obama laid out what he called a choice, he rallied against too much government. >> we don't want handouts for people who refuse to help themselves and we certainly don't want bailouts for banks that break the rules. >> reporter: he took a few jabs

at mitt romney. >> feel a cold coming on? take two tax cuts, roll back some regulations and call us in the morning. >> reporter: and he recounted major accomplishments. >> osama bin laden is dead. >> reporter: plus the auto bailout. detroit building more cars. >> today they can't build them fast enough because we reinvented a dying auto industry that's back on top of this. >> reporter: and the middle class. >> i refuse to ask middle class families to give up their deductions for owning a home or raising their kids just to pay for another millionaire's tax cuts. >> reporter: the president called for a million new manufacturing jobs, cutting the growth of college tuition in half, and reducing the deficit by 4 trillion. >> i ask you tonight for your vote. >> reporter: if he gets another chance. today it's back on the campaign trail to new hampshire. new hampshire's one of the eight battleground states where mitt romney's rolling out 15 new ads

today. the conventions are now over and as he says in that ad, the race is on. lynn? >> tracie pots in charlotte. thank you. elsewhere, a 21-year-old charlotte man has been arrested by the secret service for allegedly posting threats to kill president obama on twitter. authorities say donte was detained after posting messages including one on monday threatening to, quote, assassinate president obama this evening. two days before obama arrived in charlotte for the democratic national convention. he told them he hated the president and was high on marijuana when he made the post. if convicted, he faces up to five years in prison. a new generation of the kennedy family is running for political office. joseph kennedy iii won the democratic primary to run for congress from massachusetts. the grandson of robert f. kennedy went to stanford and harvard law school and worked as a prosecutor.

he hopes to win the house seat being given up by congressman barney frank who is retiring. former illinois police officer was found guilty. court sketches show a stone faced peterson and happy savio family. the jury was won over by a largely circumstantial case that according to one juror hinged on hearsay testimony that originated from peterson's fourth wise, stacy, whose whereabouts are still unknown. sentencing is set for november 26th. peterson faces up to 60 years in prison. now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. in maryland, newly released video shows a big rig hitting a police car and seriously injuring a trooper. the officer was performing a

traffic stop when the truck slammed into his vehicle and then into him. the officer may lose the use of his right arm. this is exactly why drivers need to slow down, move over when emergency vehicles are stopped. in new york, a man was killed after his -- this fight at a gas station. a customer allegedly attacked a gas station attendant, but it was the attendant who turned the tables and began hitting and kicking the customer who later died. the attendant has been questioned but not charged. and finally on a much lighter note, in des moines, it didn't take long for a pair of monkeys to make their pick for tomorrow's football game. they toppled the barrel over with the hawkeyes logo. before you accuse them of being biased, they beat the odds maker last year going with iowa state. we'll see what happens this

year. now for a look at your national and regional weather, let's check in with meteorologist bill karins. >> happy friday. >> it always is. >> we're a little ahead of everyone on the work schedule. we get a little happier than everyone zblels this is the end of our friday. >> really cruel. everyone else is starting their friday. good morning to you, let me get you into your work weekend forecast. as we go throughout the end of this work week we are watching a pattern change across the country. much of the country is going to get their first taste of fall this weekend. unfortunately, not many areas of the west. we are going to see a cooldown though on sunday in the northwest as the jet stream takes a little bit of a dip. it looks like the ridge and high pressure will remain over the intermountain west. you won't experience the cool air like the rest of the country is going to appreciate. right now that cooler air is coming down here through montana, northern portions of wyoming. this front is just kind of stalling out here. even areas like salt lake city. the front is stalling over top of you. you won't get a taste of cooler air.

the warm air continues from the desert southwest to the northwest. showers and pretty good dust storm rolling through phoenix. there's a few showers out there this morning. there's enough monsoonal moisture. you can see the temperatures, hundreds there. northwest, what a warm september we've had so far. it continues into your weekend. that's a look 10 to 15 degrees as you go through your sunday. so areas of the west, the bottom line for the weekend is only the northwest really sees significant cooler temps. >> well, wall street roars. and why ben & jerry's is suing a porn filmmaker. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus a look at big winners from last night's mtv vma

awards. coming up, a bench clearing brawl, a costly error, now you see him, now you don't. you're watching, "early today." >> announcer: "early today" is brought to you by advil. make the switch to advil now.

good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry, and here are some of your top headlines this morning. england's ministry of defense says prince harry has been deployed to afghanistan. he will fly apache helicopters that provide air cover for military missions. harry's 2008 deployment to afghanistan was cut short when an australian gossip magazine leaked pictures of the prince in combat. "the new york times" reports today the white house may declare the haqqani network is a terrorist organization. the group has been blamed for deadly attacks on american troops in afghanistan.

a texas man was the victim of a birthday prank that caused him to be released from a plane in handcuffs. his birthday nightmare worsened when texas kept him in custody for outstanding warrants. following the death of astronaut neil armstrong, his gloves and advisor from the 1969 moon walk will be on display for two weeks at a national air and space muse s seem center in virginia. he will be buried at sea. and now here's an early look at how wall street's going to kick off the day. it was a good day. the dow closed at 13,292 after jumping 244 points yesterday. the s&p went up 28. the nasdaq surged 66. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei shot up 191 points while in hong kong the hang seng skyrocketed 592. well, stocks sizzled thursday thanks to action on

european debt and upbeat job data here at home. markets roared after the european central bank announced a bond buying program without limit to cut the borrowing rates of the eurozone's most debt-strapped countries. the program finally answers long-standing calls for a concrete aggressive plan. the effect was immediate. borrowing costs for spain and italy hit their lowest levels since spring. gold also jumped hitting six-month highs settling at $1,700 an ounce. traders were boosted by u.s. companies in august at the fastest clip in five months. service sector employment jumped higher than expected. new weekly claims for jobless benefits fell to the low level in a month all of that was especially encouraging ahead of the key jobs report. the dow led by walt disney closing at an all-time high and the s&p 500 led by glass maker owens illinois both soared to their highest level in more than four years.

the s&p is now up 14% for the year. the dow almost 9. the nasdaq led by sandisk micron technology finished at its highest level in more than a decade. it now stands 20% up for the year. today watch smith & wesson. after the bell the gun maker skyrocketed after raising it's full year sales forecast. also keep an eye on mattress firm which warned on short-term profit and plunged after hours. and, finally, ben & jerry's, the ice cream maker, has sued the maker of ben & cherry's. x-rated dvds saying, what else, the film has smeared its reputation. coming up, the braves win on a bungle, the o's outbomb the bombers, and how to embarrass yourself after scoring a goal. plus, a big league brawl in the nation's capital. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. the weekend forecast is all about a taste of fall.

your early morning forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." and in sports three eighth inning homer last night by the baltimore orioles shot them back into a first place tie with the new york yankees.

here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. with less than a month to go in the season there's no race closer than the a.l. east, orioles and yanks in a dead heat after mark reynolds unloaded in baltimore. smashed a pair of home runs. he had an absolute tear. eight homers in seven games. the orioles won it, 7-6. push came to shove. the coaches went after each other in the fifth. that was quickly broken up. then in the sixth, castillo almost hit bryce harper and here we go. the benches cleared. after a few tense moments things escalated at first base. no real punches thrown. just a lot of jawing back and forth. we'll call it a draw. nats won the game, 9-2. it's one of the easiest things to do in baseball, but the colorado rockies made it look, oh, so difficult. taking on the braves. chacin with the pitch. no problem there. rosario tossed it back. problem. chacin took his eye off the ball. didn't make the catch and in came the run.

all right. it's only the second inning. we'll get it back. oh, no, you won't. it was the only run of the game and the braves won it 1-0. sad news from the nfl. influential art modell passed away yesterday. he owned the browns and ravens for more than a decade and moved the browns to baltimore. art modell was 84. u.s. open. they call him the joker. djokovic was all business last night. juan martin del potro played some of the best tennis of his life, but it wasn't enough. djokovic advances to the semis for a straight win. finally to the pitch, a stoppage in time. penalty kick for colin clark. he shoots and he scores and he's gone. sprints off the field and into the tunnel. colin clark has left the building. wait a minute, come on back, colin. we've got more soccer to play. that's more than one way to make an exit and entrance all in one play. that's your early look at sports on "early today." have a terrific weekend. i'm fred roggin. coming up a big name showbiz

break-up and who's the favorite at the box office this weekend. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, she's a woman who rocks. coming up, an entire new exhibit dedicated to women just like her. you're watching "early today."

welcome back.

on this friday morning, temperatures continue to soy in the west. another day you want to be in the air conditioning in the northwest. i know all the kids are back in school and not all schools have ac, but 91 in portland, very warm. 96 in medford. seattle at 86 will be a warm afternoon. 87 in boise. as we take you through your weekend, still very warm saturday. the big change comes on sunday. we'll only be in the 60s or 70s in portland to seattle. that's your big change. if you're watching us on king 5 news in seattle, see how local artists have used books and inspiration for paintings and inspiration. banbridge arts and crafts. that's your pacific event of the day. now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. at the box office this weekend this could be the first time in four years no movie will pass the $10 million mark. "the words," a romantic thriller, looks to have the best shot at the top spot. another thriller, "the cold light of day," debuts after sitting for quite some time on the studio shelf.

that's never a good sign. and last week's champ the horror film,th "the poe" has a shot of getting the top spot. elsewhere i'm disappointed about this one. after nine years of marriage amy poehler and will arnett have separated. mtv's video awards were held last night in los angeles. among the big winners was rihanna with "we found love" best new artist with england's one direction. best female video went to nicki minaj for starships. chris brown "turn up the music" drake, lil wayne. best hip-hop video. one direction took best pop and best rock went to coldplay. >> is this like england band, one direction, is this for keeps? >> for a good six months to a year. >> okay. >> then there will be another one. >> someone else? >> yeah. they're just shifting through.

>> i need to know if i need to pay attention or not. >> wait until your daughter is a little bit older, then you will. this comes to us from washington, d.c., where you can get up close and personal with some of the best known women in music or some of the things that helped make their mark from lady gaga's dress made of preserved meat to patty smith's boots and loretta lynn's guitar. they're all on display starting today at the national museum of women in the arts. aretha franklin's dress and madonna's cone dress highlights female artists going all the way back to the 1920s. >> i'm lynn berry, this is "early today." just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

a herd of rare and endangered horses are now running free in china. a total of 21 of them were released into a million-acre nature reserve. the horses are said to be healthy, strong, and ready for whatever awaits them in their new habitat. with only 1,300 of these types of horses in the wild, the national reserve will likely make an ideal home. let's hope so. in thailand, it's all in the hips, 1,400 people took part in the country's first hula hoop competition. this is all in the campaign to promote exercise. this video is for bill. >> i can't do the hula hoop. >> oh, you can't. >> that's unfortunate. almost 50 teams made up of 30 people each did their best to swirl the hoops between their hips and shoulders for a half hour. participants ranged between the ages of 15 and 50. the winning team took home about $1,300. >> you can do it?

>> no. we'll have to practice. finally one entrepreneur in the ukraine is taking things to new depths. in just two years he's built his own 10-foot submarine. he says the vessel can dive about 160 feet deep and at speeds of 4 miles an hour. the sub cost him $12,500 to build and he plans to craft other personal subs to sell or rent in hopes of turning his hobby into a profitable business. i want one. that looks really uncomfortable though. >> that looks like a tomb in a casket. >> claustrophobic. yeah. i would not do well in that. but, you know torque have a submarine, that would be kind of cool. it's time for now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day on nbc. air travelers to and from germany could be out of luck. lufthana has canceled 1,200 flights a day. flight attendants are planning to stage a walkout over stalled pay negotiations. the annual "stand up to cancer" telethon will be tonight on all four broad networks and a dozen cable networks will for go

commercials to air it. among tonight's a-list of celebrity supporters gwyneth paltrow, julia roberts, taylor swift and tim mcgraw. >> and happy birthday to jazz sax a phonist son any rollins turns 82 today. all day long you can stay on top of the very latest developments in those stories and more as they break on msnbc. and tonight be sure to watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." and, finally, here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. one day after drew peterson was found guilty of murdering his wife. her sister speaks out in an exclusive live interview. and actress ellen barkin talks about her role in the upcoming nbc comedy "the new normal." and now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports, and more. i'm lynn berry. thanks for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day, today on your nbc station. the day, today on your nbc station. have a great weekend.